A new title sponsor could make the 34th annual APL Smokin’ Wheels race weekend a turning point for the event — and for Guam.

American President Lines served Guam several decades ago, according to Pacific Daily News archives, and restarted its service to the island on Jan. 1. Sponsoring Smokin’ Wheels will be a coming-out party of sorts for the international shipping company.

The sponsorship means APL will take care of shipping containers of cars and buggies from the U.S. mainland and Japan to Guam for the event, which was a piecemeal effort in the past that gave some Japanese drivers a reason not to race.

“The benefit that comes to the racetrack is that guys that want to participate in Guam can get to Guam and back to Japan fairly quickly,” Guam Raceway Federation President Henry Simpson said. “In the past, if you came to our race, your car went into a container, then it went from here to Pohnpei to New Guinea to various other places, and then back to Japan two months later. And then you might miss a race or you couldn’t work on your car or things like that. The service (APL provides) is really good for Guam, and this is a great way for us to showcase that and to help the track and get more international participants to come. It turned out really great.”

APL returned biweekly service to Guam at the start of this year, APL Guam/Micronesia General Manager John Selleck said, hoping for a chance to expand and connect the island to other APL locations around the globe. Major APL port service goes from Los Angeles to Yokohama, Japan. The new route connects Japan to Guam, Saipan and South Korea on a two-week pattern.

For Smokin’ Wheels racers, that means it will now be days — not months — that their vehicles are in transit.

“We’re kind of new again to Guam, but we saw immediately that it’s a great event and we’re excited about it,” Selleck said. “There’s great synergy.”

In this file photo, El Diablo Guapo cuts through the corner, kicking dust during the off-road buggies and trucks endurance race at Smokin' Wheels.(Photo: PDN file)

A history with event

APL has a history with Smokin’ Wheels. At the second annual race, held in 1979, the company sponsored motorcycle legend Malcolm Smith for his trip to the race.

This April will mark its most significant foray into the event since. There hasn’t been an increase in the number of expected participants from Japan this year, but that could change in the future if the shipping goes as expected. New racers from the U.S. mainland could still take advantage of the APL offer this year.

“At APL, we’re always looking for opportunities,” Selleck said. “APL came in at that time (1979) because there was an opportunity on Guam, and Guam needed service. (Now) APL has seen that there’s an opportunity in Guam to provide a second carrier from the mainland and increase connectivity with the world.”

The APL Smokin’ Wheels race weekend is scheduled for April 15-17 at the Jose and Herminia Calvo Memorial Off-Road Park in Yigo.

Tickets are available for single-day and weekend passes. For more information on the race, visit facebook.com/smokinwheelsguam or guamraceway.com.